Five-set thriller

Jamestown rallies from two games down to shock Dunkirk

September 13, 2012

Trailing 2-0, before the Jamestown Lady Red Raiders walked onto the court for the third game, Jamestown coach Rebecca Zimmerman told her team, "Get ready. We are in this for the long run. We have three more games."

Her team believed as Jamestown pulled off a stunning upset to defeat the Dunkirk Lady Marauders, 14-25, 17-25, 25-24, 25-20, 25-21 in Division 1 girls' high school volleyball.

"The first two games we had different people in different situations and playing in positions they weren't use to," Zimmerman said. "In the third game, we got back to our positions. Everyone was comfortable in their own positions and we played as a team. I never doubted for a second that we couldn't come back and win the next three."

For the Lady Marauders, coach Kim Roque must try to find a way to get her team to build confidence and believe.

"It was going so well," Roque lamented. "I think that the girls, skill wise, improved tremendously from last year and I think right now what we have to work on is their confidence. Once they started to get behind, they tensed up and made silly mistakes. They aren't used to being a team that wins, so now that they are at the level they can, they have to believe they can win now."

Trailing 11-8 in the first game, Dunkirk's Lacey Clark and Khee Nance had back-to-back spikes to ignite a 16-3 run and cruise to a game 1 win.

"Not only do kills rally them, but a block or an ace does," Roque said. "And once they get going, their confidence builds. They can rally and come back from a deficit."

In the second game, the confidence for Dunkirk continued as it never trailed en route to a 25-17 win.

Then the Lady Red Raiders got their turn.

In the third frame, there were eight ties and four lead changes. Down 20-17, the Lady Red Raiders rallied to take a 22-20 lead before holding on for a 25-24 win.

"The third game we made the most hitting errors, but I believe we were playing a lot more aggressively and the team did a better job of taking what I said in timeouts to the court," Zimmerman said. "I told them where the holes were and they hit those spots."

Jamestown never trailed in the fourth game and finished strong for the 25-20 win.

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"I think they just don't think they can win," Roque said of her team. "When things get behind, I see their game change completely. They make silly mistakes. One of the games we lost was because of service errors. Then they rebounded and were getting their serves over again. I think we are going to have to do things to work on confidence. That's the last piece of the puzzle to make them a winning team."

The fifth game was a back-and-forth affair and seemed as if the Lady Marauders would be able to hold on with a 20-18 lead. However, a 7-0 run sparked by four straight service points by Haley Jones gave Jamestown the improbable win.

Nance led the Lady Marauders with four aces and 12 kills while Lacey Clark had 24 assists. Sarah Hanlon charted two aces and five kills, and Alexis Clark had four kills, three aces, two blocks and four digs in a losing effort. La'Shonda Moreland charted a kill and two digs for Dunkirk.

Jamestown was led by Chrisanna Green's seven kills. True Wright and Jessica Pace each charted five kills.

"Jessica Pace was the leader with her intensity and aggressiveness," Zimmerman said. "Her intensity gave me goosebumps. She has been on varsity for three years and she is the veteran of veterans."

Adriane Rhone had seven digs and Emily Kuropatwinski had 18 assists for the winners.

"Every time I give them a challenge, they step up," Zimmerman said.

"We definitely have to work on some confidence builders," Roque concluded. "I think their skill is there and they really just need to work on that and believe in their heads they can be champions."

It was an incredibly tight contest in which both teams received outstanding individual efforts and no set was won by more than four points.

Sally Rudny had a big game for the Lady Trojans with four aces, 12 kills and a block. Maddy Alexander added six aces, 18 assists and eight kills.

Also playing well for Southwestern was Kara Schutte with 21 assists and six kills and Jackie Gullotti, who recorded 17 digs, six kills and an ace.

The Lady Hillbillies were paced by Margaret Wright's five kills and 12 digs. Emily Ludwig added three kills and three blocks while Makenzie Tarnowski tallied four kills, two aces and a pair of blocks. Maddy Crandall dished out 10 assists in the loss.